Tales of Symphonia: Life After Death
by Elenturi
Summary: Kratos had often wondered if there could be a life for him after the death of his wife Anna. Fortunately, life comes to find him as he sets out to aid Collete in the Journey to World Regeneration. -WARNING! if you don't like Kratos/Oc pairing, don't read-
1. Prologue

**Tales of Symphonia:**

**Life After Death**

**

* * *

**

**Author's note: **I am bound eternally by the rule of the copyright…I do NOT own any part of Tales of Symphonia. (If I did, do you think I would be writing a fan-fic, and not a sequel for the game?)

* * *

**Prologue**

Woman:

"_This story takes place inside of a story. It is one that none have ever heard, nor are they likely to until many long years have passed, and those that lived it are all but memories to this world, once torn asunder by a fallen hero, and reunited by the courage of friends. It is a story of redemption, acceptance, forgiveness, and learning. It is a story of learning to live again, love again, and learning to not run from your past…or your future."_

Kratos:

"I had long ago forgotten what it meant to live life to its fullest. Strange how such important lessons can be forgotten so swiftly after tragedy. I, above all, knew tragedy…my life had been full of it since I was young. The cruel death of my parents, the deaths of my friends, war, famine, hatred…I had seen it all, even the coming death of a planet, and the farming of humans for expheres. That was when SHE came into my life, some 4,000 years later. Anna. She taught me how to live again. Taught me that my life could indeed be happy, and I needn't see death everywhere, but there also was new life to be seen. The years with her were difficult, full of paranoia, but complete, happy…content. She gave me everything: my humanity, my happiness…she even gave me a son. Just when it seemed I had escaped tragedy's grip, tragedy struck again….ripping my precious Anna away from me, dragging her into death, and pulling my son away from me. My world crumbled to dust around me, and I forgot. I forgot what it meant to live; escaped into my isolation, and tried to forget…but life has a way of finding me when I least want it to.

So here I was, on order of Lord Yggdrasill, escorting the new Chosen of Regeneration on her journey. We had only just reached Triet, and already we were paying for rooms at the inn. Unfortunately it wasn't long until my stubborn son, whom I had tried so hard to leave behind to keep him safe, met up with us. Upon breaking the first seal, I was loath to admit that Lloyd would be coming with us, but at least if he was around I would be able to keep a closer eye on him…and perhaps redeem part of my lost humanity…no matter how much it hurt."

Author's note 2: So, this is the end of the prologue. Please read and review, it been a long time since I've written a fan-fic, so please be kind, but please do critique me! I need the opinions! If there's something you like in particular, let me know so I can keep doing it! If there's something you think needs to be changed, or something I can improve on, PLEASE for heavens sake, let me know so I can improve it!!


	2. Ch1: Request

**Tales of Symphonia**

**Life After Death**

_Disclaimer: The only one I own here is Sereph! I do not own any part of Tales of Symphonia! If I did, do you really think Lloyd would have had to fight Kratos so many times?_

_SPOILERS! If you've not gotten to the part of the game where you know Kratos' relation to Lloyd yet, shame on you! Go! Play! Finish! Then come back and read!_

**Chapter 1: Request**

The small group headed back to the desolate city of Triet after Colette had broken the Seal of Fire. Kratos and Lloyd walked along at the back of the party, a tense silence between the two swordsmen. Kratos' eyes swept the desert scenery, constantly on the look out for monsters that might try to attack the Chosen of Mana; however, the older swordsman often stole furtive glances at the younger man walking beside him. How he had grown since the last time he'd seen him. Lloyd was, as usual, completely oblivious to most things that happened between the members of his group, unless of course, it came to Colette. The golden haired girl walked beside the teacher, and healer, Raine; her hair glowing in the afternoon sunlight, dancing in the minimal breeze. Genis walked in the middle of the group, his blue eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of the city they were headed toward, when he finally spotted the sandstone buildings in the distance.

"We're almost there!" he called excitedly to the others around him, jumping around.

"Genis, stop that," his sister scolded, turning around to glare at him, "we're still a few hours off. If you keep on like that you're going to get dehydrated, then we'll have to…"

Lloyd rolled his eyes as Genis cowered to the side slightly, as if he could get away from his sister's ranting by doing this. Turning around as well, Colette gave Genis an apologetic smile, her blue eyes darting from Genis to Lloyd for a moment before flickering back to the target of Raine's wrath. Ignoring the argument all together, Kratos simply walked on. He didn't feel sorry for the boy; in fact, he hardly felt anything for anyone at all anymore. Raine, seeing that the mercenary just continued walking, and was now a fair distance away from the rest of the group, stopped her shouting, her arms dropping from when she had been flailing them about in her anger, a slight flush coming to her cheeks as she turned and started walking again, trying to catch up to the swordsman. The three younger members of the party, not trying to keep any form of dignity, simply ran to catch up…Lloyd giving Genis a wink as he darted past his younger friend.

It was nearly sundown by the time the group reached Triet, and the shops were already closing their doors. Genis, tripping and falling flat on his face in his excitement…even after his sister's warning him to be careful…grumbled and stayed close to Lloyd and Colette as Raine played her part as the concerned older sister.

"Come on, we should get to the inn before it is full." Kratos growled, walking ahead of the group once again toward the inn to their right.

"What the hell is his problem?" Lloyd mumbled to Colette, who had already started to walk after the mercenary.

"I don't know…maybe it's a mercenary thing?" she suggested, smiling at Lloyd and stepping through the doorway to the dark interior of the inn; Kratos was already at the counter speaking to the woman there.

"Yes, we do provide food…the pub is right through those doors there. Your rooms will be on the top floor, the last two on your left," the woman said with a smile.

"Hmph" was the only reply she received as the auburn haired man gazed up at the rooms, then looked over to the doors to the pub and nodded, tossing Raine the key to the room she, Colette, and Genis would be sharing.

It was then that a woman, nearly as tall as Kratos, walked into the inn. She wore a dark blue, form-fitting, shirt closed at the front with cross lacing, and tied at the bottom, the sleeves being long and made of thin fabric that hung lightly around her arms, and were held tightly around her wrists with black leather wrist bracers. Her pants were black, and loose around the legs, tucked in at the top of brown traveling boots, a brown belt around her thin waist. In her hand, she held a thin wooden staff; slung across her back was an oddly shaped bag, and a dark blue cloak, its hood pulled up over the woman's head, covering her face in a deep shadow. As she closed the door behind her, the woman gently lowered her hood, revealing her long silvery hair shimmering an odd blue color as it swayed along the middle of her back. Her eyes were concealed by a long blue strip of thin fabric wrapped several times around her head and tied in the back. The group stopped and simply watched her as she came in, using the staff to touch the floor before her, though it was barely noticeable. Lloyd and Genis gaped at the woman, never having seen a blind person before, but Raine simply shook her head and pulled Colette away. Kratos was the only one who seemed to show no sign of life as the woman carefully walked up to the desk.

Putting a hand lightly on the counter, she turned her head as if she were looking at the others who stood in the room with her. Raine put her hand out and grabbed Genis' shirt collar and pulled him away from the woman as well, her eyes full of dislike. Lloyd looked from his teacher, to the woman, then to Kratos, and back to the woman, as if wondering what to do, or how to react…unfortunately, Kratos was no help, and Raine seemed to be slightly appalled by the blind woman. Lowering her head slightly, the woman turned her face back in the direction of the receptionist, pausing slightly as her face passed Kratos' still form.

"Excuse me…" she said to the woman behind the counter, who had also backed away slightly. "Is this the Sand Dancer Inn?" she asked, her voice strong and filled with an oddly musical tone, though her body language showed her to be self-conscious.

"Y-yes. It is. Why?" the receptionist asked, her tone one of distaste for the woman that stood before her.

"I was asked to be the entertainment for tonight."

"You?! Ha. What can you do for entertainment?" the receptionist scoffed. Kratos shifted slightly, his eyebrows knitting together slightly. Lloyd grunted quietly, and Raine simply ushered Colette and Genis upstairs.

"Look miss, I don't want to be rude, but…you're not the one who hired me, your boss did, and so I don't have to answer to you. If you question the truth of my story, go ask him," the woman said, her brow furrowing slightly. Her tone had only been slightly colored with her anger at the receptionist, but other than that, there was no evidence that she was stating anything more than a fact. It was just then that a man came out of the room behind the receptionist, and upon looking around, spotted the blind woman.

"Ah! You're here! Good! Come this way and we'll get you all set up…but…I didn't know you were with your family?" he said.

"Family?" she asked, tilting her head to the side slightly as the manager took her hand lightly.

"No, we are not with this woman." Kratos stated bluntly; Lloyd grunted and rolled his eyes.

"What he means to say is that we aren't traveling with her, we've just checked in…that's all." Lloyd said, giving Kratos a slight glare and a shake of his head. The manager flushed slightly as his eyes grew wide.

"Oh, I'm very sorry. I assumed when I shouldn't have."

"Not a problem." Lloyd told the manager with a smile, and headed up the steps to their rooms, followed by Kratos, who had the key.

As Kratos unlocked the door, he watched the blind woman being led to the doors of the pub, and felt his stomach rumble slightly. This was odd for him, considering he was an angel; he had no need to sleep, or eat, or drink, yet he found himself feeling hungry suddenly…something he'd not felt since Anna had been alive. As the two men walked into the room, Lloyd rounded on Kratos, his eyes full of anger and curiosity. Kratos tilted his head to the side slightly, a slight smirk coming to his face as he tried to imagine just what Lloyd was going to ask now.

"Who was she? What was wrong with her eyes? Why was Professor Raine acting that way? And Why do you have to always be so angry?"

Kratos simply raised his eyebrows. He had certainly not imagined that his son had never seen a blind person before, nor had he thought he could come up with so many questions at once…and who had said anything about him being angry? Sighing slightly, Kratos shook his head and leaned against the wall casually.

"I do not know who she was, I have never seen her before. She is blind, that is what is wrong with her eyes. I do not pretend to know why Raine acted the way she did, but many act that way toward the crippled, seeing them as incomplete, or damned, and that is why they are crippled…as punishment for something…and I am not always angry," replied the auburn haired mercenary, gazing steadily at the younger man. Lloyd simply shook his head, not sure what the older man meant by saying the woman was 'blind.'

"I don't understand. What do you mean by blind?"

"Do you not know what it means to be blind?" Kratos asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, or I wouldn't be asking."

"What were you taught by Raine…?" Kratos mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief and slight irritation. How could his son not have been taught the simplest things of life, like what it meant to be blind?! If he had been around, Lloyd would have…Kratos ended his thought there. There was no use in thinking about it. He hadn't been there to teach his son of his own will. Now all he could do was correct the situation. "Being blind means that one cannot see," he replied simply, running a hand through his untidy auburn hair.

"What?! They can't see anything? Nothing at all?" Lloyd asked, startled by the sudden realization. Kratos simply shook his head as a reply, and Lloyd sat down on the edge of one of the beds, eyes growing distant as he absorbed the information.

"Come, I'm sure the others are hungry. We should all go down to get food. We have a long journey tomorrow." Kratos stated suddenly, standing up from against the wall and walking toward the door. Lloyd gave him a small smile and stood up, following him. So, Kratos was just as curious about the woman as he was! Lloyd wasn't entirely sure about how he knew this, but he was certain it was the case…behind the calm demeanor, Kratos was actually curious about something.

As the two walked out the door, Lloyd came face to face with Colette, who beamed at him happily. The young man grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "You're hungry too! Let's go get something to eat then," she stated happily, taking his hand and leading him down the stairs toward the doors to the pub. Raine and Genis followed the pair as Kratos brought up the rear. As the group walked through the doors to the pub, a gentle melody filled the air, accompanied by the sound of a stringed instrument being plucked along with the melody. The words were foreign, and images seemed to dance before their eyes as the song reached their ears, the sounds of birds and wind and deep drums seeming to float through the air as well, though there was no way any of them were truly hearing these things.

"Wow…it's beautiful!" Colette gasped, leading Lloyd to a table closer to the stage, her eyes dancing happily. Lloyd smiled and allowed himself to be pulled along, noticing, as they got closer to the stage, that the woman singing and playing the instrument was the blind woman from earlier! Raine grumbled something under her breath, but made no other comment on Colette's seating choice. Even she liked the music that the woman was playing. Genis sat silently next to Lloyd, watching the woman with wide eyes. It was then that Kratos pulled out a chair and sat down heavily across the table from the younger man, his eyes sweeping over the occupants of the small pub.

"_E'tae uvir,_

_sor culiariva mori._

_Qui por viriana sol Tethe'alla._

_Re'tae rivu,_

_Ikka'ta numaril ar._

_Somi foriga en Sylverant."_

The woman's song ended, her voice seeming to reverberate through the room, as the conversations of the people dying down as the end of the song came; once it was over, the room was dead silent until a round of applause filled the room. The woman smiled graciously and bowed her head slightly in thanks.

Several hours later, the Regeneration group sat around the table occasionally taking a bite of some of the few pieces of food left on their plates or, as Kratos was want to do, take a long drink from their mugs as they spoke amongst themselves. The silvery-blue haired woman plucked an upbeat melody on her round-bodied instrument, her face a mixture of happiness and concentration as she played. Kratos leaned back comfortably in his seat, arms folded across his chest as he listened half heartedly to Raine's idea of how they should travel to Palmacosta, when the woman started to sing again. It was only the third song she had sung, and each time many of those in the pub were spellbound as they listened…Colette and the others were no exception.

"Wow…her voice is so beautiful!"

"Yeah…beautiful Colette…" Lloyd said as he gazed at the blond girl next to him before blushing and looking away swiftly.

"I think Colette meant the song Lloyd." Genis piped in, grinning at his friend. Lloyd simply glared at the elfin boy as if telling him not to help. The dark air around them seemed to shimmer with the words the woman sang, and both Colette, and even Raine, sighed contentedly, nearly melting onto the table as they listened. Lloyd carefully leaned across the table toward Kratos and tapped his arm to get his attention. The older man had been staring into his drink during the entire song, seemingly lost in thought.

"Hey, Kratos?"

"Hm?"

"You alright? You're acting kind of…odd. That or thinking really hard about something." Lloyd pointed out, looking at the mercenary through slightly concerned deep brown eyes. Kratos simply shook his head and waved the question away. Huffing slightly, the young swordsman leaned back again and shook his head…what was wrong with this guy anyway?! As the song ended, the room applauded once more, the woman again bowing her head in thanks before the manager of the inn stepped onto the stage.

"Give another round of applause for our wonderful guest. I'm afraid, however, that even she must eat…no matter how much she denies the fact." Many in the room laughed at the joke, including the woman who simply shook her head, putting a hand to her face, "and so, I must take her away from you for at least a little while." Many of the men in the pub groaned at the fact, but there really wasn't much they could do about it. As the manager led the woman off the stage, she whispered something into his ear and he nodded slightly, turning and guiding her along toward the table where Colette and the others were sitting.

"Hello. I just wanted to thank you for all of your compliments young miss." She said, directing her comment to Colette, who looked up and smiled brightly at her.

"Oh! It's no problem, you're a wonderful singer! My name is Colette by the way."

"Colette? I know this name…are you the Chosen?" the woman asked, her brow furrowing slightly. Colette nodded, her eyes wide.

"Yes. Yes I am. How did you know?"

"News travels fast about the Chosen one young miss Colette. My name is Sereph by the way." The woman said with another bow of her head and a small smile. Kratos sat up slightly, his brows knitting together slightly. Sereph? How in the…no, it couldn't be the same as the singer he'd heard so much about when he was younger.

"Sereph? THE Sereph?! The one who wrote the song about the regeneration?" Genis asked with wide eyes. The woman nodded with a small smile; Raine gaped at the information.

"A blind woman wrote…" she gasped, shaking her head slightly. Sereph sighed slightly and turned her head away for a moment.

"I actually had a request…I believe that the two men who were mistaken for…er…traveling with me, are here. Am I wrong?" she asked politely.

"We're here." Lloyd replied with a smile. "What's your request Sereph."

"I wanted to know…could I possibly travel with you?"

Kratos shook his head firmly. "No. You would only be a burden," he stated gruffly. Sereph turned her head toward the mercenary and dropped her head slightly, as if thinking.

"I promise you, I will not be a burden to your journey. Here…will you escort me to the next town before you decide whether I may accompany you or not?"

"Yes, of course!" Colette said happily.

"No." Raine stated at the same time. "I agree with Kratos. You will be a burden. It's already dangerous enough out there for the Chosen without having to escort someone like you."

"You mean a cripple. I can hear it in your voice." The woman stated, turning her head toward Raine.

"Enough. Colette, this is your journey. What do you say?" Genis said, knowing that she would be the one to ultimately make the decision.

"I want her to come with us to the next town."

Kratos shook his head and sighed. "So be it. We leave tomorrow at dawn, be ready." Sereph nodded and smiled.

"Thank you Chosen. I will be ready."

**Author's Note:** the song lyrics are complete jibberish that I made up off the top of my head. If any of it really means anything in any language beside English...so sorry!

PS: REVIEWS ARE GOOD...GIVE ME MORE! lol


	3. Ch2: Long Road at Dawn

Tales of Symphonia

**Tales of Symphonia**

**Life After Death**

_**Author note: **__Sorry this chapter took so long. I have an irreversible case of laziness, and there has been college work galore for me to do. Anyway, thanks so much for the reviews I got from the past two chapters!_

_**I, unfortunately, do not own any part of ToS…if I did, the ToS 2 that is coming out would NOT be for the WII! (And there would be a movie. ) **_

_Also, there is one very big spoiler in this chapter, and a few smaller ones that are less noticeable. I suggest that if you haven't reached the part where Kratos and Yuan speak to Lloyd outside Altessa's house, you don't read any farther into this story until you have!_

**Chapter 2:**** Long Road at Dawn**

Sereph sat silently in the front entry of the inn she had stayed at the night before. It was still dark outside; the sun had not yet risen to bush the skies with its golden glow, but the light was slowly creeping through the windows. The singer sat there, wondering if she had made the right decision…if she would indeed be of any use on the Chosen's journey, or if she would fail yet again at saving another innocent woman from an untimely demise. Lifting her head toward the rooms above, she heard the sound of movement as the others prepared themselves for their journey. The first door shut, and she looked up once more. Ah, there they were…the two men of the party, no doubt the brawn of the group, always in the front lines. Sighing, she waited, face turned toward the front door once more as they descended the stairs. She had been ready to go for the past three hours when she had finished playing at the pub, nonetheless, she had gone upstairs and waited quietly in her bed, thinking over what was to be done if the Chosen's bodyguards decided she was not worth keeping around.

Lloyd had shouldered his pack long before Kratos saw fit to move from his position in the chair he had been sitting in most of the night, the book he had been reading still held before his face, eyes still scanning the pages. The young man tapped his foot impatiently as he stared at the auburn haired man. Finally his brown-red eyes looked up from his book at the young man as he raised an eyebrow. Looking out the window he finally seemed to notice that the sun was beginning to rise, and stood up closing the book. Picking up his pack from beside the wall, he walked out the door without a word to Lloyd. Rolling his eyes, the young man followed him into the hall and down the steps. Watching the mercenary, Lloyd noticed that his attention was drawn to the bottom of the steps, and he followed the man's gaze. It didn't take long for the young man to notice what had caught the stoic man's attention; the woman, Sereph, sat silently at the bottom of the steps on one of the benches, her instrument slung over her back, her pack sitting beside her on the floor. "Good morning sirs," she said with a smile, turning her face toward them. Kratos merely grunted slightly in reply. Shaking her head Sereph sighed and pulled back her long silvery blue hair, easily braiding it and tying it at the end with a crimson colored ribbon that shown brightly against her hair color. As Lloyd came up beside her, he smiled slightly.

"Um, hey…I'm Lloyd."

"Sereph," she replied with a kind smile in the direction of the young man. "It's a pleasure to meet you Lloyd."

"Heh…same here. By the way, sorry about Kratos….he's well…" he said, running a hand absently through his hair. Lloyd didn't quite know how to finish the sentence, especially since his new sword mentor was glaring at him.

"Kratos. So that's his name…well, even if it displeases you to have me come along, it's still a pleasure to meet you." Sereph said, holding back a chuckle. She could just imagine the sour look on the man's face at her words…most unkind people reacted that way when faced with kindness…and she enjoyed their reactions, even if she couldn't see them. There was the sound of more bustling at the top of the stairs and the sound of footsteps coming down them toward those who were already waiting. Rain huffed slightly as she passed Kratos, seeing the blind woman waiting on the bench. She hated the fact that the woman was coming along, and she would try her best to talk Colette into leaving the woman at Izoold. For once she had found herself in complete agreement with the untrustworthy mercenary, and even wished that he had been as persistent in leaving the woman behind as he had in leaving Genis and Lloyd behind in Isalea. As Genis and Colette came down the steps they both smiled, seeing Sereph was ready to go.

"Good morning Sereph!" Colette chirped happily as she trotted toward Lloyd and the woman, followed closely by Genis.

"Good morning Chosen," she replied with a bright smile. "Who's with you?"

"Oh no! I forgot you were blind! I completely forgot to introduce you! I'm so sorry!"

"No need to apologize. If you forgot for even a moment that I was blind then I am happy," Sereph replied with a happy look on her face.

"O-okay! Well…you met Lloyd and Kratos already I think…then there's Genis, he's the youngest, and he's our mage….then there's Professor Raine Sage, she's our healer and Genis' older sister…she's also our teacher!" Colette said bouncing on her toes excitedly. Sereph chuckled and shook her head at the girl's excitement. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a long journey to the next town after all? Perhaps…just perhaps…there was hope yet.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Genis, Miss Sage."

"Raine." She replied, rather testily.

"Um…excuse me…Raine…" Sereph corrected herself, trying not to show the fact that Raines tone practically burned a hole through her. It seemed like it would be a long journey after all…. there was quite a bit of work to be done. Chewing on the inside of her lip for a moment, Sereph decided that she wouldn't be the one they were waiting on. Standing, she picked up her pack and her staff and walked outside. Seeing her walk out the door before any of them earned Sereph a small amount of respect from Lloyd. Perking up a bit from his morning moodiness, Lloyd shot a grin at Kratos, who's face…for once…held a mixture of disbelief and curiosity? Catching Lloyd's gaze, his face swiftly returned to a mask of calm as he too walked out, followed closely by Lloyd and the others. Sereph was no where to be seen from the front of the inn, and it wasn't until they reached the gates of the city that they found her speaking in a friendly manner to the town guards. As the group passed her, Sereph took her leave of the men there and followed along.

At first the group moved slowly, not sure if the blind woman would be able to keep up, but she seemed proficient at moving swiftly without injuring herself, and was even able to avoid most trees and bushes once they left the desert. It wasn't long; however, until the first monsters of the day decided to pay them a visit, sending the group into a flurry of motion.

"Sereph, stay in the back, behind Raine!" Kratos ordered as he and Lloyd dashed toward the wolves, just as a large wasp joined the fray. Snorting, Sereph started chanting as she stood behind Raine and Genis; she wouldn't stand aside and be useless. As one of the wolves grabbed hold of Lloyd's arm, its teeth sinking into his skin, Sereph pulled mana in from the world around her in a rush before it swept around the others in a wind of healing and the wolves let out a yelp of pain. As Lloyd was freed from the wolf's teeth, a loud "Demon Fang!" was heard as Kratos leapt at the offending creature, dealing the deathblow, just as Genis was stung by the wasp.

"Don't get in my way!" he shouted at it and batted it away as Lloyd darted toward it, sword raised. Raine tossed Genis an antidote as he chanted his spell, healing him of the wasp's poison. Lloyd leapt into the air slashing at the wasp, which threatened to interrupt Genis' spell once more, knocking it to the side. Sereph, who had been chanting once again, thrust her hand out in the direction of the wasp.

"Banish!" she commanded, a silver glyph forming under her as the wasp seemed to implode before vanishing.

"Ground Dasher!" Genis shouted, just in time to realize his target was already gone. Lloyd and Raine blinked at her for a moment before Kratos shouted at Lloyd to help him with one of the two remaining wolves. Regaining her composure, Raine shouted "First Aid" as she healed Kratos slightly from the bites the wolves had given him. Chanting again, Sereph turned just enough to face the fight. As Kratos and Lloyd were fending off one of the wolves, and Genis and Rain were busy with their spells, the second wolf darted after Sereph. As the wolf they were fighting died, Kratos and Lloyd turned to see the last wolf snarling at Sereph, who had drawn a pair of daggers, preparing to defend herself.

"Sereph! Don't move! We'll be right there!" Lloyd called, but Kratos knew they wouldn't get there in time. The wolf lunged at the blind woman and she leapt into the air, silver-blue hair flying about her face as it came out of her braid. As she came plummeting down, her daggers poised like an eagle's talons, she slashed at the wolf and with three swift movements it was dead. Landing in a crouch, Sereph stood and cleaned her daggers carefully and sheathed them. Luckily she could not see the others faces or she would have blushed with embarrassment at their dumbstruck looks.

"S-Sereph? H-how did you DO that?" Colette asked, astounded, as she dropped down from the tree she had been hiding, as per Kratos' instructions. Sereph jumped slightly, spinning around.

"Oh! Well…I've had quite a bit of practice, and I have quite a bit of luck I suppose." She replied with a wary smile. Kratos grunted slightly before striding over to Colette to make sure she was all right.

"I don't know who, or what, you are…but I'll find out." He muttered as he walked past Sereph, who appeared unconcerned about his statement. The rest of the day went on in much the same way until they reached Izoold.

"So how old are you?"

"Old enough."

"Isn't a Sereph an angel?"

"No, that's Seraph."

"Do you like to sing?"

"If I didn't would I sing for work?"

"Why does your hair look blue sometimes?"

"Why does your voice sound like Kratos' sometimes?"

"It does not!" Lloyd and Kratos replied instantly, causing Sereph to laugh.

The conversation had been going on for the past two hours, with Lloyd asking questions incessantly, and Sereph answering them without truly answering them. Both Kratos and Raine were amazed at how tolerant the woman was with Lloyd and his annoying questions, but she didn't seem to mind them one way or the other. As they walked into the town, Lloyd's questions stopped as he became more interested in the quiet seaside village than his torment of Sereph.

"We need to find a boat that will take us to Palmacosta," Kratos stated, "and hopefully before the sun sets" he added, gazing up at the swiftly setting sun. Sereph sighed and carefully made her way to a low wall that she discovered not far off, sitting on it. Kratos turned at the soft sound and tilted his head to the side slightly wondering what the problem was.

"Sereph?" he asked simply, his questioning tone making his confusion obvious.

"I promised you that you only had to escort me to the next town, did I not?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as well. Colette and Lloyd both stopped dead in their tracks, turning to look back at the woman. Genis gaped at Sereph's words and nearly ran into the back of Lloyd as he walked behind him. Raine nodded slightly and started to usher the children away toward the docks.

"Yes, you did indeed." She replied.

"No! We can't just leave you here!" Colette cried, looking pleadingly between Kratos, Raine, and Sereph. "Please? I want her to come also. She's so nice, and she's really helpful! It's not like she's stopping us, or holding us back in any way!"

"Yeah. Colette's right. We said we'd give her a chance, didn't we? Well, she's proved herself to me, and I'm pretty sure Genis feels the same." Lloyd confirmed, while the younger boy nodded, looking over at Kratos for his opinion. The older man sighed and closed his eyes for a moment as he thought, running a hand absently through his hair as he thought over his answer.

"Yes, she's been an asset so far, but it will be more and more dangerous as we go along."

"I understand that. I am skilled enough to keep up with you Master Mercenary." Sereph replied with a light chuckle.

"Then you come at your own risk." Kratos responded and started walking toward the docks once more.

It didn't take long for the group to realize that there was no ship in the town that would cross the ocean to take them to Palmacosta, which meant a dangerous journey through forest, plains, and mountain passes where the monsters were stronger than any they had encountered thus far. As the sun finally sank below the horizon the small party set about making camp a few miles outside of the town. Genis was making rice balls for dinner as Lloyd, Colette and Raine sat about the fire. Kratos leaned against a tree a few feet away as he sharpened his sword and Sereph set out her bedroll. Genis doled out the rice balls and they started to eat in silence…before Colette decided to speak.

"Sereph? Were you always blind?"

"No. Not always. When I was younger I wasn't. Why?"

"Well…" Colette began, not sure how to say what she wanted. "I wanted to know if you could imagine what we looked like if we described ourselves to you."

"Yes. I think I could." Sereph replied with a smile.

"Good! Because, well…we all know how you look, but, you don't know anything about us…not even how we look." Colette said, sounding slightly upset at the idea. Kratos looked up from what he was doing, frowning slightly.

"If you want to describe yourselves, that's fine with me. If not…that's alright as well."

"Alright! Um…I have blue eyes…long, straight, blond hair…I'm almost a foot shorter than you…and, well, I've been told I'm pretty." Colette said excitedly, causing Sereph to chuckle.

"Colette? Would you mind if I see you…my way?" Sereph asked tentatively. Colette tilted her head slightly.

"Sure…um, what do I do?" she asked, before the older woman beckoned her over. The others watched silently as Sereph carefully ran her fingertips over the Chosen's face, a small smile playing on her lips as she did so.

"They're right you know. You're a very pretty young woman." Sereph said with a nod, and Colette giggled slightly, sitting down again not far away.

"Okay…who's next?" she asked excitedly, and Genis automatically raised his hand.

"Me! I'm Genis…um, I'm about a head shorter than Colette, I have white hair and blue eyes, I'm an elf, and my sister is Raine," he said with a smile and came over to Seraph, kneeling close by so she could feel his face as well. Smiling, the blind woman thanked him and turned her head to face the direction of Lloyd and Raine. Colette did the same, and urged one of them to describe themselves; surprisingly it was Raine who spoke up first.

"I'm Raine, Genis' older sister. I have white hair, blue eyes, and am an elf." She stated blandly.

"Come on professor! Come here, aren't you going to let her feel your face too?" Colette asked innocently.

"No…I'll just stay here if you don't mind Sereph." Raine said stuffily. Sereph shook her head slightly.

"It's alright Raine. I wouldn't want to force you." Colette sighed and looked over at Lloyd next. The teen shrugged and smiled.

"I'm Lloyd…um….I have brown hair and brown eyes. I'm about a head taller than Colette. I wear a red jacket…um…I was raised by a Dwarf…and uh….I don't know what else to say…" the boy ended, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"That's fine Lloyd…I don't find it easy to describe myself either." Sereph replied, casting him a bright smile. "Will you allow?" she asked, holding out a hand toward him, to see if he would allow her to touch his face. Lloyd scratched the back of his head for a moment as he thought it over.

"Um…no thanks Sereph…that's a little strange even for me…" he replied honestly. Seraph nodded and turned her face in the direction of Kratos, who had yet to speak that evening.

"And you Kratos? Will you describe yourself to me?" the woman asked tentatively. Of the entire group, this man remained the most mysterious to her, even though she had a small idea of who, or WHAT, he might be.

"I think I'll pass…" the man said with a huff and returned to his stoic state of brooding as he examined the edge of his sword. Sereph simply sighed mentally and shrugged a tad, but Colette frowned at the mercenary.

"Kratos! Even Professor Raine described herself…what harm is there in…"

"No. It's alright Colette. He doesn't trust me enough yet, and that's fine. As I've said before, I won't force anyone to do something against their wishes when it's something as simple as this." Sereph stated and lay back against the bed roll.

It wasn't long until Raine informed the others that it was time to get some sleep. Kratos offered to take the first watch of the night and sat in the shadows just outside the campfire. Sereph lay silently, her mind wandering as she lay on her side and watched the familiar green glow that surrounded the plants around them. Her eyes moved as she spotted small dots of color as bugs flew through the air around them, and the brighter red glow of a wolf that prowled along the tree line before deciding it was wisest not to attack the group and wandering away once more. It wasn't long before she heard the steady sounds of sleeping people behind her, and knew that the others must have fallen asleep…until she heard quiet footsteps approaching her. She lay still and waited.

"Um… Sereph? Are you…still awake?" came a quiet voice from behind her.

"Yes Lloyd, I'm awake. What is it? Are you alright?" she asked, sitting up.

Kratos had been on his way back to the camp from patrolling the edge of the clearing the group slept in when he heard voices. Stopping just outside the light of the fire, he watched as Lloyd and Sereph sat speaking to one another. After a moment Lloyd closed his eyes and Seraph felt his face gently, a small smile appearing on her face. So, Lloyd had decided to allow the woman to touch him after all. The angel silently wondered why he hadn't even described himself to her. What harm could come of it? Had he truly become that paranoid about trusting others that his son would prove braver than himself in a matter such as this? He sighed slightly and resigned himself to what he would do. As Sereph finished her probing of Lloyd's features, the two spoke again and they both laughed as stood and walked back to his bedroll and lay down once more. The mercenary watched silently for several minutes as Sereph sat there seeming to gaze at the fire. Perhaps she could still see the light it cast?

"Why don't you come out of the shadows Kratos? There's no need to hide from me is there?" came the soft voice of the blind singer. Kratos looked back to her, to see that her face was turned directly toward him as if she were looking at him…and he had the odd feeling that she was, somehow.

"No. I suppose not," he replied, and walked toward her, sitting down not far from the silver-blue haired woman.

"You wanted to talk about something?" she asked simply, tilting her head to the side slightly. He noticed that her hair was longer than he had first thought, and wondered, mildly, when it had been set free of its braid.

"I saw you speaking to Lloyd, and began to wonder why I hadn't described what I looked like to you."

"I'm sure you have your reasons. Many mercenaries have reasons not to trust others, I assumed you feel similarly, so I didn't press the issue." Seraph said quietly as she turned her face back to the fire, welcoming its warmth. Kratos was surprised at her answer, and wondered just what other ideas and wisdom she held in her mind.

"Yes. It was something like that..." he replied, "but I've decided that if someone as young as Lloyd and Colette can trust you, I should at least try to show you the same courtesy they did and describe myself to you."

"If you wish to, then please do…but only if you're certain it's what you want," came the soft reply. Kratos blinked and was taken aback by her reply. It reminded him of Anna.

"I'm sure," he said, and she nodded once. "I have auburn hair and red eyes. You are only slightly shorter than I am," he said and she nodded slightly.

"Thank you."

"For what?" he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"For taking the time to do this…I feel like it was slightly difficult for you."

"I suppose it was," he replied, "but aren't you going to ask to touch my face the way you did the others?" he asked curiously. Sereph chuckled slightly and shook her head.

"That would be presuming too much. If you like I can ask?" she said simply, and Kratos had the good grace to blush, yes blush, slightly…though he swiftly regained his composure.

"You're starting to test my patience. If you're going to do so, then hurry it up," the mercenary snapped in irritation. Sereph sighed slightly and held up a hand, her fingers gently moving across the man's face. That was when she realized something very odd. Her brow furrowed slightly, but she made no other motion to signify what her thoughts were. As she pulled her hand away, she smiled slightly at the man next to her, despite his attitude. She had grown used to dealing with other's strange reactions and changes in attitude when it came to her actions and words.

_A/N: Thanks for reading once again! Please read and review!_


End file.
